©Anne: Alloeocomatella pectinifera from under rubble at North Point, Lizard Island. The organism overlying the cirri may be a commensal myzostomid polychaete.
©Anne: Alloeocomatella pectinifera from under rubble at North Point, Lizard Island. The organism overlying the cirri may be a commensal myzostomid polychaete.
Colours
Distinguishing features
Comasterids are distinguised from all other featherstar families by having terminal segments of the oral pinnules modified to form a comb. Most comasterids a also have a distinctive "feel" due to well developed hooks on most pinnules that cause them to cling like velcro.
Alloeocomatella pectinifera differs from most comasterids in that it is slippery rather than "clingy". It has 10 long, delicate arms, a good ring of cirri, and its oral pinnule combs are conspicuously long and broad. Brown to burgundy or red in colour, sometimes with whitish concentric bands.
Size
- Up to 70 cm (Length of specimen) - applies to Recorded up to 70 cm in diameter by Messing (1995) but most specimens reach about 50 cm in diameter. Individuals are asymmetric, with only the longer arms protruding from hiding place at night.
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Distribution and habitat preferences
This species has not been recorded often at Lizard Island, possibly because it is nocturnal and extremely cryptic during the day. A specimen in the Australian Museum collection was found under a slab of rubble in a cave at 15 metres off South Island.
Local abundance
- Lizard Island: Rarely seen due to cryptic habits.
Behaviour
Totally concealed during the day, curled under slabs of rubble. Exposes several arms at night, reacts strongly to light by withdrawing.
Web resources
References
- Clark, A.M. and F.W.E. Rowe (1971). Monograph of shallow-water Indo-west Pacific echinoderms British Museum (Natural History), London.
- Messing, C.G. (1995). Alloeocomatella, a new genus of reef-dwelling feather star from the tropical Indo-west Pacific (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comasteridae), Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 108(3): 436-450. LIRS catalog number 436.
- Messing, C.G. (1995). Alloeocomatella, a new genus of reef-dwelling feather star from the tropical Indo-west Pacific (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comasteridae), Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 108(3): 436-450. LIRS catalog number 436.